Larry Downs Jr. claims that city-owned Pensacola Energy and its director Don Suarez are trying to put private local plumbers out of business, but he can’t get Mayor Ashton Hayward or City Administrator Eric Olson to meet with him.
Suarez created a team, called the Plumbing Partnership Program, in 2012 of about a half dozen local plumbers. Pensacola Energy directs hot water heater installations and appliance installations to those plumbers regularly.
Downs, who owns Larry Downs Jr. Plumbing and is serving as the spokesman for about 50 local plumbing companies, said the partnership overseen by Pensacola Energy is costing local plumbers hundreds of thousands of dollars in business.
He is arguing it’s unfair that government is competing against the private sector and is demanding the practice stop. Downs said Pensacola Energy subsidizes the jobs from its marketing budget.
He said he has tried repeatedly to meet with Mayor Ashton Hayward and his administration but has not received any response. Downs and other plumbers were given two minutes each to speak during the Leroy Boyd Forum at last Thursday’s Pensacola City Council. However, no one from the Hayward administration or Council addressed their concerns at the meeting. (See Confusion over Pensacola City Charter)
Downs told Inweekly that he has filed a formal complaint of price fixing and collusion.
“They’re doing installs below cost,†Downs said. “(Suarez) is giving me and the rest of the plumbers the finger. He said, ‘Too bad. There ain’t nothing you can do about it.’ There are so many different levels that this is wrong.â€
Downs also accused Pensacola Energy of doing projects for free. He showed Inweekly public records of an invoice that shows Warren Culbertson, the general manager at Astro Lincoln, received $2,338 of free work in July 2014. A handwritten note on the invoice reads: “File only. No charge to customer.†No taxes were charged since the natural gas company is government owned.
Another customer, Fannie Bell Wiggins, received free work in October 2014 that totaled $1,795. Installer Aggressive Plumbing said it did a “free†repipe of the gas house line and installed a free water heater that brought the Yonge Street home up to code.
Also, Lidia Smith on Talladega Trail received work in April 2014 to repipe a house line from Certified Plumbing, Sewer & Gas for $2,820. The description of the job said Larry Downs Jr. gave a quote for repairs of $5,200. Pensacola Energy said on the invoice that it would pay Certified and allow the customer to repay the natural gas company in installments. No labor costs were charged.
Another public record that Downs obtained is a memo from September 2012 from Don Suarez that said Pensacola Energy can do range hookups, too. One of his technicians reported a consumer complained he paid a plumber $150 for the work. Suarez demanded for staff and the public to know that the city-owned natural gas company offers the service, too, and called for a meeting with Lowe’s and Home Depot to let them know it could do hook ups..
Ironically, the Pensacola Energy website currently advertises it can connect natural gas stoves.
“It’s one of those things that need to be exposed,†Downs said. “If I got six plumbers together right now and we set our price, we would be going to jail.â€
Downs plans to meet with District 2 City Councilwoman Sherri Myers on Friday. He said he hopes she will propose to city council to end the Plumbing Partnership Program.
Downs pointed out he must carry insurance, charge taxes on his projects. pay taxes and fees to operate his business, pay for advertising, pay an accounting firm and make money so he can hire certified plumbers.
“She’s the only person who will listen to me,†Downs said. “This is terrible and corrupt.â€
So let me get this straight. “The plumbers are fighting the gas company because the gas company provides a labor and material price for the installation for more than HALF the price of the plumbers AND they finance the price in your bill monthly?”
The citizen’s WIN with that arrangement. The plumber’s need to “re-evaluate their business model” because THEY can’t compete NOR should they TRY to compete to deliver and provide “the same exact product” to the consumer for TWICE the price”
That’s THEIR numbers quoted in the article NOT mine. I just read and count. Am I missing something here?
Reality check here. At the end of September our 20-year-old gas water heater began to fail as evidenced by the water seeping out of the bottom of it. The plumber we had used 20 years ago was no longer in business. So off to the yellow pages. We called one of these protesting plumbers first. They were so obliging: they would be happy to send someone in two days to give us a quote. Same thing with three other Pensacola-area plumbers. Finally located a GULF BREEZE plumber who gave us a quote then and there over the phone and did the job the next morning and did it well. So what was up with the other plumbers? Too much business to give us the immediate help we needed? If they’re “losing” business, maybe it’s because their customer service (and perhaps their pricing) is not so good.
Anyone who claims that the decision for the City of Pensacola to be in the business of putting the plumbers out of business needs to brush up on the basics of municipal government in Florida. Chapter 10-4 in the city’s Municipal Code deals with “Energy Services.” Section 10-4-14 that deals with “Installation of Services” was last amended in September 2011. Section 10-4-16(c) is the specific city law that authorizes ESP (Energy Services of Pensacola remains the legal name of the city’s natural gas company until the City Council adopts an ordinance changing it) to install “natural gas piping and natural gas appliances.” What if a City Council member proposed amending Section 10-4-16 to delete subsection (c)? That would seem to address the plumber’s main issue that Pensacola Energy is unfairly competing with them beyond the meter. If the City Council adopted the amendment as an “Emergency Ordinance,” it would not be subject to veto by Hayward. I have no idea which City Council members would vote YES – and that is all they would need – but District 3 Councilman Andy Terhaar has often discussed his opposition to unfair city laws that impose onerous restrictions on developers. For a City Council member to vote NO, they would basically have to proclaim that they are against the free-market system and support crony capitalism. As another option, our State Legislative delegation could flex its muscle proposing a law in Chapter 166 Municipalities, Florida Statutes, that prohibits a municipal-owned utility from competing with the private sector. Perhaps Commission Chairman Underhill might even weigh-in on the issue. He has often talked about his desire to keep government out of the way of the private sector. During a recent Agenda Review, I heard several Commissioners say that they wanted the “Pensacola Energy vs. Plumbers” issue put on the agenda for the next joint meeting.